Discussion Forum > Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone here!
Christmas was merry, thank you. I have not had an overly stressful season so this triage wasn't necessary for me. In the spirit of systems talk, the last little while I've been developing my own method of managing my days. It had a lot of details to it, but I've managed to abstract it down to 3 parts:
Work, Improve, Rest. The focus of Work is serving others as part of my business. The Working bit comes down to the typical working day (9 to 5) but since I'm self-directed, working out of my home, this is extremely flexible, but imposing this basic structure helps me contain my work to not engulf everything nor be shrunk out of significance.
Improving involves reviewing my work day, thinking how I can do things better, planning ahead the next day (what things will I devote attention to), and educating myself to do things better, and doing whatever to improve my environment.
Resting is taking a break, recovery, enjoyment, sleep, and slowly waking up.
Each phase might also have a structure to it. Somewhere in here may be task lists from which I choose my work.
As it happens this pattern is scalable. A pomodoro scheme could be I might work 45 minutes, spend a few minutes planning my next 45, and then relax for 10. I could carry out a season of work, take a vacation, and plan out the next season.
Work, Improve, Rest. The focus of Work is serving others as part of my business. The Working bit comes down to the typical working day (9 to 5) but since I'm self-directed, working out of my home, this is extremely flexible, but imposing this basic structure helps me contain my work to not engulf everything nor be shrunk out of significance.
Improving involves reviewing my work day, thinking how I can do things better, planning ahead the next day (what things will I devote attention to), and educating myself to do things better, and doing whatever to improve my environment.
Resting is taking a break, recovery, enjoyment, sleep, and slowly waking up.
Each phase might also have a structure to it. Somewhere in here may be task lists from which I choose my work.
As it happens this pattern is scalable. A pomodoro scheme could be I might work 45 minutes, spend a few minutes planning my next 45, and then relax for 10. I could carry out a season of work, take a vacation, and plan out the next season.
December 26, 2019 at 17:23 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
Christmas was merry. Busy and changes, but merry. Lots of last things, since my youngest is in the final year of high school and my MIL moves to a home in the new year. I'm 51, and this year was the first time I cooked Christmas dinner. (I've cooked other big meals, but Christmas dinner is special.)
I think Must/Should/Could has always been part of my systems. Sometimes I resist, but I know it works. Identifying the Must Dos and realizing how few there are always lowers my stress and makes me optimistic. I often ask, "Who says I should do it?" then answer with, "Not me!" and delete it. It's the same with the Could Dos, but I let them linger a bit more since they're fun.
"Want to do" is also an important question. The answer often helps me tell if something is Must/Should/Could.
I think Must/Should/Could has always been part of my systems. Sometimes I resist, but I know it works. Identifying the Must Dos and realizing how few there are always lowers my stress and makes me optimistic. I often ask, "Who says I should do it?" then answer with, "Not me!" and delete it. It's the same with the Could Dos, but I let them linger a bit more since they're fun.
"Want to do" is also an important question. The answer often helps me tell if something is Must/Should/Could.
December 27, 2019 at 20:00 |
Cricket
Cricket
Yes Happy New Year All!
"Must Do, Should Do, Could Do" was just the thing clearing the decks for the break, a very well-timed tip.
Back today and looking forward to getting back to "Is this what I want to be doing", as well as the traditional new year refresh of systems.
"Must Do, Should Do, Could Do" was just the thing clearing the decks for the break, a very well-timed tip.
Back today and looking forward to getting back to "Is this what I want to be doing", as well as the traditional new year refresh of systems.
January 2, 2020 at 10:56 |
Colin
Colin
Merry Christmas (which lasts for twelve days of course, and then immediately starts again to celebrate a second time with friends and family on the Julian Calendar!)! :-)
And Happy New Year!
I've never been very good at pre-determining which things are really "must do" vs "should do" vs "could do". So my personal preference for these situations is a simple no-list method: just take a scrap of paper and write everything on my mind, and let my intuition do the sorting. Putting everything down on the paper as they come to mind, it's easier to compare the things to each other, and then the relative "mustness" of the tasks pops out without my having to think about it.
And Happy New Year!
I've never been very good at pre-determining which things are really "must do" vs "should do" vs "could do". So my personal preference for these situations is a simple no-list method: just take a scrap of paper and write everything on my mind, and let my intuition do the sorting. Putting everything down on the paper as they come to mind, it's easier to compare the things to each other, and then the relative "mustness" of the tasks pops out without my having to think about it.
January 4, 2020 at 17:23 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
It's working for me at the moment.
Chris